Crash 'sounded like thunder'

Four people were injured in a train wreck about 5 a.m. Wednesday near U.S. Highway 60 and Farm-to-Market Road 1912 east of Amarillo.

Four people were injured in a train wreck about 5 a.m. Wednesday near U.S. Highway 60 and Farm-to-Market Road 1912 east of Amarillo.

Four people were injured in a train wreck about 5 a.m. Wednesday near U.S. Highway 60 and Farm-to-Market Road 1912 east of Amarillo.

Four people were injured in a train wreck about 5 a.m. Wednesday near U.S. Highway 60 and Farm-to-Market Road 1912 east of Amarillo.

Three Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway trains collided Wednesday near U.S. Highway 60 and Farm-to-Market Road 1912, east of Amarillo, derailing several cars and injuring four crew members. IPad users, tap the photo to view more photos from the wreck.

Three Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway trains collided Wednesday near U.S. Highway 60 and Farm-to-Market Road 1912, east of Amarillo, derailing several cars and injuring four crew members.

Three Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway trains collided Wednesday near U.S. Highway 60 and Farm-to-Market Road 1912, east of Amarillo, derailing several cars and injuring four crew members.

Workers walk past a fence destroyed by rail cars following a three-train accident.

Three Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway trains collided Wednesday near U.S. Highway 60 and Farm-to-Market Road 1912, east of Amarillo, derailing several cars and injuring four crew members.

Three Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway trains collided Wednesday near U.S. Highway 60 and Farm-to-Market Road 1912, east of Amarillo, derailing several cars and injuring four crew members.

Four people were injured in a three-train collision about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday near U.S. Highway 60 and Farm-to-Market Road 1912 east of Amarillo, authorities said.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway spokesman Joe Faust said an eastbound train was stopped on the tracks when another train also traveling east rear-ended it — a collision that caused about 20 to 30 rail cars traveling with the trains to derail.

Shortly afterward, a westbound train struck some of the derailed cars from the first accident.

No motor vehicles were involved, emergency workers said.

“We have crews and management on scene, but as of now no hazardous material has been spilled,” Faust said Wednesday morning. The hazardous material in question was the diesel fueling the train, he said.

Sandy Strickland, 46, a driver for PBX Trucking, was nearby when the accident occurred. “It sounded like thunder ... we didn’t know what was happening,” she said.

Four people were taken to a local hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, said Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Senior Trooper Chris Ray.

None of the victims, all BNSF employees, suffered broken bones. They were expected to be released from hospital care, Faust said.

Highland Park schools and the Tyson Fresh Meats plant were not affected by the accident, Potter County Sheriff’s authorities said.

Federal Railroad Administration spokesman Rob Kulat said six FRA inspectors were at the wreck site Wednesday, and said the National Transportation Safety Board is heading the investigation of the wreck. Attempts to reach an NTSB spokesman for comment were not successful Wednesday.

T.C. Gardner, 61, of Amarillo, a retired BNSF engineer, looked over the wreckage from atop the FM 1912 overpass.

He said it was likely crews could clear one track Wednesday night.

“They don’t mess around,” Gardner said. “It costs too much money.”

He said the wreck called to his mind another three-train collision in May 1989 at the Farm-to-Market Road 1541 overpass near Southwest 58th Avenue, where a 35-car Santa Fe train crashed into stationary cars, derailing one of the stationary cars into the path of another train.

The 1989 accident resulted in the deaths of brakeman Steve Ray Favreau and Robert Melson Dawson, a Santa Fe conductor. Augustine H. Zermeno, a brakeman, was injured in the wreck, files show.

Gardner said he was fortunate to have avoided such an incident in his 38-year career with Santa Fe and BNSF.

He said he used to travel the stretch of track where Wednesday’s accident took place.

“I’m just glad they’re not all badly hurt,” Gardner said.

Russell Anglin can be reached at russell.anglin@amarillo.com, Matthew Hutchison can be reached at matthew.hutchison@amarillo.com and Stephanie Williams can be reached at stephanie.williams@amarillo.com.

On the heels of the state approving a code clearing the way for municipalities to regulate commercial ground vehicle operators at airports, the City of Amarillo has approved an ordinance to do so at Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport.